By John Bagratuni, dpa
Wolfsburg have nothing to lose in their first ever Champions League quarter-final in which they meet mighty Real Madrid. But they need to overcome poor domestic form which culminated in a 3-0 weekend defeat in Leverkusen.
Berlin (dpa) – Josuha Guilavogui has a winning experience against Real Madrid but together with his Wolfsburg team-mates will need an almost superhuman effort to do it again when they meet the Spanish giants in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Real will be brimming with confidence after Saturday’s 2-1 Clasico victory at arch-rivals Barcelona while Wolfsburg are coming off yet another Bundesliga setback in a 3-0 meltdown in Leverkusen.
«We know we only have a very small chance, but you go onto the pitch to be successful, and that’s what we want to do against Real as well.
We have nothing to lose,» midfielder Marcel Schaefer told uefa.com.
The French midfielder Guilavogui was part of the Atletico Madrid team that beat Real 1-0 in 2013 during his short term there.
«Why not aim to repeat that kind of performance? Of course we will need to defend well because they have such a strong attack with Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, so we will need to defend really well and then play well on the counter,» he said.
Lying eighth in the league leaves Wolfsburg with only a small chance of returning to the elite event next season, but managing director Klaus Allofs said the recent poor domestic run should not spoil the upcoming experience.
«It would be fatal if we were not looking forward to a Champions League quarter-final. That’s something you have to enjoy and, with a view to the game in Leverkusen, we need to get things right. I firmly believe we will see a very different VfL,» Allofs said.
Wolfsburg are in their first Champions League quarters after surprisingly winning a group which included PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United, and then ousting Belgium’s Gent in the last 16.
That came after a runner-up finish in the last Bundesliga and a German cup and super cup title in a strong 2015-16 season for the
2009 Bundesliga champions.
They were tipped as the biggest rival for Bayern Munich again this season but after the departure of Kevin de Bruyne to Manchester City they have not conserved their form. Friday’s meltdown was their third league game without victory and also showed why they are the second worst team away from home with just 10 points garnered in 14 games.
Wolfsburg have had some injury problems but also star players like Andre Schuerrle and Julian Draxler are still underperforming.
They also made unwanted headlines with the release of Niklas Bendtner and the case of Max Kruse who was kicked out of the Germany team for two recent friendlies after several incidents off the field. Kruse played Friday but coach Dieter Hecking said he had expected «a better performance» from the forward.
Hecking admitted «it won’t be really sparkling» if his team plays does not improve against Real.
Defender Dante, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013, however insisted that «we don’t and won’t have any fear of Real.»
But that applies even more vice versa, as goalkeeper Diego Benaglio pointed out.
«Real will probably not be afraid of Wolfsburg,» Benaglio said.
